So we all know Trump is a narcissist of the "malignant" garden variety type. But does he have narcissistic personality disorder? The answer might surprise you.
NARCISSIST VS NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER
First, we have to look at the difference between a narcissist and a person with narcissistic personality disorder. People often get them confused.
Narcissism is often interpreted in popular culture as a person who's in love with him or herself. We think of narcissists as someone who thinks he or she is overly important, pompous, and overblown. The joke goes: "Let's stop talking about me," says the arrogant blowhard. "Instead, let's talk about myself.
But how well does he match the clinical definition of narcissistic personality disorder?
CRITERIA FOR NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER
If you have narcissistic personality disorder, you may come across as conceited, boastful or pretentious. You often monopolize conversations. You may belittle or look down on people you perceive as inferior. You may feel a sense of entitlement — and when you don't receive special treatment, you may become impatient or angry. You may insist on having "the best" of everything — for instance, the best car, athletic club or medical care.(From the Mayo Clinic)
Many narcissists like to do things to impress others by making themselves look good externally. Narcissists uses people, objects, status, and/or accomplishments to represent the self, substituting for the perceived, inadequate "real" self. These grandstanding "merit badges" are often exaggerated. The underlying message of this type of display is: "I'm better than you!" or "Look at how special I am—I'm worthy of everyone's love, admiration, and acceptance!"
To reach the level of a personality disorder, the behavior must be deeply ingrained, intense, displayed in a variety of situations, and maladaptive, causing long-term difficulties in personal relationships or in functioning in society.
Here are some NPD traits along with stories I found from various sources. I could find hundreds of stories. I picked just a few.
An exaggerated sense of self-importance and exaggerating achievements
"I will be the greatest jobs president God ever created."
"On social media, I'm the one that's beloved" (comparing himself to Fox reporter Megyn Kelly)
One theme that comes up again and again is Trump's acute sensitivity to being seen as a billionaire rather than a billionaire! He has sued over it again and again. Trump is so worried that people won't think he's worth he's rich enough that he nearly doubled his net worth on a form he sent to the Federal Election Commission.
Just a few months ago, a team of five people at Forbes spoke to 80 sources and determined his current wealth at 4.5 billion. Trump's form claimed he was worth was 8.7 billion, and he boasted it would be 10 billion at some unspecified time in the future. An editor from the magazine says Forbes has been battling with Trump over the exact size of his fortune for 33 years.
It's one thing to sue magazines or organizations. But Trump turned his fury on a New York Times author who wrote that at the time Trump "only" had 250 million dollars. Trump sued him for five billion dollars, accusing the author of malice despite the fact that the author had three sources.
(To give you a comparison, JK Rowling had one billion dollars until she gave too much of it away. Trump sued the NYT author for five times that much.)
We can call that one a "yes."
Obsession with image; needs to be the focus of attention
Trump has made appearances as a caricatured version of himself in television series and films (e.g. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, The Nanny, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Days of Our Lives, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. You can also count his relentless Twittering, obsession with the media and his image.
One way to tell if a public figure is a narcissist is to see if criticisms (even minor ones) nearly always bring on an impulsive angry reaction. This is especially obvious in theTwitter age, when a fast reply is so easy.
If that person freely insults others but reacts with a "why are you trying to hurt me" type of reaction when others criticize them, it's can be a sign of entitlement (as in, "I can speak my mind about you, but if you do it to me it's just a sign you're out to get me"). See if you can name a female politician famous for this in the comments section.
A "yes" on that one as well.
Feelings of entitlement
Trump burrowed $640 million to finance the Chicago Trump Tower and hotel. When the market crash occurred and the bank wanted its money back, he sued them for three billion (yes, billion) dollars. He claimed that the "force majeure" clause in the contract (the one that protects borrowers from forces beyond anyone's control like earthquakes) should apply to the real estate market--in other words, saying that he should only have to pay back his loan if he made money.
Trump, who was building the "best golf course in the world" on the Menie Estate in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, was displeased when a homeowner near the golf course refused to sell him his house. So without warning, the tycoon put a fence around the house and billed the owner for half the cost. The owner said: "There is no way I'm going to pay it. As far as I'm concerned it's just another attempt to intimidate and bully me."
Oh yeah.
Lack of empathy
You really can't beat this one from Catholic Online. Donald Trump is making headlines as he publicly rejected Pope Francis' call for compassion for immigrants and refugees entering the United States. In a recent interview with CNN, Trump claims the U.S. cannot afford to take any more of the immigrants the Pope wants the U.S. to absorb.
"We can't afford" it, Donald Trump affirmed. He continued explaining, "His words are beautiful and I respect the Pope" but the United States "has more practical fish to fry."
No fish for the immigrants who can't afford them. Yes.
Relationships largely superficial and exist for personal gain and to inflate self-esteem
Trump has had three wives and several children, divorcing the second shortly before the prenup would have kicked in and given her more money. Are we ready for a first couple who met on a reality TV show?
Who knows? Perhaps he loves all of them truly, madly, deeply, although his obvious infidelity with wife 1 and with wife 2 caused a dustup in the entertainment magazines. I just can't help noticing that as he gets older, his wives get younger. I have no doubt that having a trophy wife is part of the brand.
So does he have narcissistic personality disorder?
Remember this part of the definition of a personality disorder? It's at the beginning of the article. To be diagnosed with a personality disorder, the behavior must be maladaptive, causing long-term difficulties in personal relationships or in functioning in society.
Based on that criteria, I don't think we can diagnose him, although it seems madly counterintuitive not to. However, he lives in a capitalist society that strongly values men (women, not so much) like him. Were he transplanted to a different country (Japan?) or time, I don't know if his behavior would be seen in the same way.
So why are narcissists so popular?
Narcissists have been with us since the dawn of history. So if they are so unlikable, why are they so popular? Why do religious Republicans so easily brush away Trump's inability to name a favorite Bible verse (with nary a comment) when religious devotion is a job requirement?
An article in the Harvard Business Review, excerpted here, has this explanation:
Have you ever wondered why selfish, arrogant, and entitled individuals are so charming? When in charge of companies, they commit fraud, demoralize employees, and devalue stock.Bonus: Not All Narcissists Have Low Self Esteem
And yet, there is no shortage of examples to illustrate the cultural appeal of [self-absorbed celebrities] and narcissistic antiheroes, like (Silvio Berlusconi, Steve Jobs, Kanye West attracts us despite their self-absorption — or perhaps, even because of it.
Why? Here are key research findings:
Narcissists are masterful impression managers
Narcissists excel at managing initial impressions. As Kaiser and Craig note in a recent review ("Destructive leadership in and of organizations"), "it is the obsessive focus on the self that links the narcissistic personality with charisma."
Narcissists' desire to make a great initial impression enables them to disguise their arrogance as confidence, which they often achieve through humor and by being entertaining or eccentric.
Narcissists manipulate credit and blame in their favor
Through a mix of shameless self-promotion and a guilt-free, Machiavellian agenda, narcissists are quick to take credit for others' achievements and blame colleagues and subordinates for their own failures. Narcissistic managers "lead with the main purpose of receiving personal credit or glory. When things go wrong or they make mistakes, they deny or distort information and 'rewrite history' in order to avoid getting blamed."
What makes narcissists so effective at this is their complete conviction that they are actually special and entitled. The rules are for someone else. It is always easier to fool others when you have already fooled yourself.
Narcissists fit conventional stereotypes of leadership
Because of their ability to accumulate power and influence, narcissists enjoy a prominent spot in laypeople's views about leadership. However, the idea that leaders must be overconfident, charismatic, or selfish in order to be effective is in stark contrast with reality.
There are some of the bright side characteristics associated with narcissistic leadership, such as effective communication skills, strategic vision, and ambition. No wonder we find narcissistic people appealing, despite themselves.
Even Republican voters don't believe he will be elected president, something he knows as well. It's all part of the Trump brand, like flying in to a press event in a helicopter.
In secret, does Trump believe he's worthless? Not likely. While some people believe that all narcissists have low self-esteem that is not true. One risk factor of NPD is being treated like a little king or queen by their caretakers.
Trump is likely one of them. The son of a New York City real estate developer, he went to a prep school and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After he graduated, he worked at his father's firm for three years until his father gave him control of it three years later, when Trump was 28.
One of the first things he did was change the name from "Elizabeth Trump and Son" (focusing on middle-class housing) to the Trump Organization. The next year he got in trouble with Justice Department for violations of the Fair Housing Act in the operation of 39 buildings.
See also: As his presidential campaign trundles forward, millions of sane Americans are wondering: What exactly is wrong with this strange individual? Now, we have an answer.
Comment: One could go further and say that Donald Trump is displaying all the traits of a psychopath. He is certainly not shy about reveling in his narcissism. From the wig to the pompous, self-centered personality, it's all right there in the open, and yet the American public has somehow not laughed him off the stage.